Power-operated can opener



July 7, 1959 E ABERER ET AL 2,893,116

POWER-OPERATED CAN OPENER FiledMay 29, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I H l hm.

IN VEN TORS.

y 1959 F.'E. ABERER ETAL 2,893,116

' POWER-OPERATED CAN OPENER Filed May 29, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 A TOENEKUnited States Patent 9 POWER- OPERATED CAN OPENER Frank E. Aberer,Kansas City, Kaus., and Henry J. Talge, Kansas City, Mo, assignors toJohn C. Hockery, Kansas City, Mo., trustee Application May 29, 1957,Serial No. 662,464

7 Claims. (Cl. 30-4) This invention relates to power-operated canopeners and refers more particularly to a power operatcd can openerwherein the power source is actuated by the puncturing of the can,continued in operation until the can is out and, then, stopped, thelatter two steps performed without any further manipulation of the canopener on the part of the operator after puncturing the can.

An object of the invention is to provide a power-operated can openerwherein only the puncturing of the can is hand performed, the entirecutting operation and the shutting off of the power being performedwithout further intervention on the part of the operator.

- Another object of the invention is to provide a poweroperated canopener which is simple in construction, rugged, having a minimum numberof parts and which is relatively cheap to manufacture.

'Yet another object of the invention is to provide a power-operated canopener wherein all steps of the can opening process which offer anydanger or hazard to the operator are performed without manualmanipulation of the opener by the operator.

Another object of the invention is to provide a poweroperated can openerwherein all of the parts are readily accessible for repair orreplacement.

Another object of the invention is to provide a poweroperated can openerwherein the power source for the can opening operation may be employedfor other kitchen purposes such as to operate a knife sharpener, thepower source being connected to the can opener at all times when runningyet only operating a limited portion thereof.

Another object is to provide such a dual purpose can opener wherein themain can opener mechanism to maintain the power source running isactuated only when an incompletely out can is engaged in the opener,separate actuating means being provided to start the power for the otherpurpose.

Another object of the invention is to provide a power operated canopener wherein the puncturing of the can also trips the actuation of thepower source, while the force exerted on the can opener parts by thecutting of the can maintains the power source in operation until the canis out, whereupon the power source is automatically shut off.

7 Other and further objects of the invention will appear in the courseof the following description thereof.

In the drawings, which form a part of the instant invention and are tobe read in conjunction therewith, an embodiment of the invention isshown and, in the various views, like numerals are employed to indicatelike parts. 7 Fig. 1 is a side view with parts cut away of the inventivepower-operated can opener and sharpener.

' Fig. 2 is a top plan view with parts cut away of the can opener andsharpener of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side view of a portion of the inventive can opener andsharpener before a can is engaged between the can holding and cuttingportions thereof.

' Fig. 4 shows the can opener and sharpener of Fig. 3 with the can to becut engaged in the can cutting mecha- "ice I nism immediately after theactuating of the power source.

Fig. 5 is a side view similar to those of Figs. 3 and 4 showing indotted lines the position of the can cutting portion of the openerwithout a can engaged therein and,

in full lines, its position during the can cutting process.

Fig. 6 is a view from the rear of the parts shown in side view in Fig.7.

Fig. 7 is a view taken along the lines 7-7 of Fig. 1 in the direction ofthe arrows.

Referring to the drawings, at 10 is shown a housing having a base 11, aremovable opening 12 and a sliding hand switch 13 mounted thereon. Thefront face of the housing has an opening 14 running substantially theheight of the housing. A front plate 15 fills the opening 14 and is ofrigid, strong construction such as a metal plate. Motor mounting plate16 (Fig. 2) extends rearwardly from the front plate 15 normal theretoand is fixed by welding or other attachment thereto. Power source 17 isfixedly mounted on mounting plate 16 and has primary drive shaft 18-extending from one end thereof behind the front plate and secondarydrive shaft 19 extending in the other direction under the opening 12.The power source drives both of the drive shafts simultaneously. Fixedto the secondary drive shaft 19 by nut 21 is abrasive wheel or disk 20.Abrasive wheel 20 is employed to sharpen knives or the like. Secondarydrive shaft 19 extends through an opening 22 in wall'23 which separatesthe motor chamber from the sharpening chamber containing the abrasivewheel.

Worm gear 24 (Fig. 1) is mounted on primary drive shaft 18 and engagesspur gear 25 which is fixed to can opener drive shaft 26, the driveshaft 26 being rotatably supported by arms 27 on plate 16. The spur gear25 is positioned between the two arms 27 and is spaced therefrom bybearing sleeve 28, Thus, rotation of primary drive shaft 18 also rotatesspur gear 25 and drive shaft 26. The necessary direction of shaft 26 iscounterclockwise in Fig. 1.

Control mechanism for the power source or motor 17 which, in thisinstance, is shown as an electric motor, comprises switch 29 (Fig. 6)which is connected to any suitable source of electric supply by aconventional electric cord not shown and has leads 30 to the motor 17.Primary contact 31 on the switch box is opposed by secondary contact 32on spring arm 33, the latter fixed to the switch by stud 34. Manualmeans for actuating the switch 29 include the slidable hand switch 13having downwardly extending legs 13a and control lever 37 pivotallyfixed to the housing 10 by shaft 37a. Slide movement of switch 13 backand forth on the housing 10 causes the arm 37 to depress the springmount 33 or release it to make or break the contact which controls themotor. The hand switch 13 is that mechanism employed to actuate themotor 17 to use the sharpening disk 20. The construction which isemployed to actuate the switch 29 to use the can opener and drive themotor in power can opening will now be-described.

Our present invention relates primarily to means for (1) turning on themotor 17 in the process of engaging and puncturing a can, (2) alsoproviding means by which the motor is maintained in operation during theentire process of cutting the can and (3) providing means for shuttingoff the motor after the can has been cut. Manual manipulation of anypart or parts of the can opener is required only during the initialstage of engaging and puncturing the can and in removal of a can fromthe opener. The maintenance of the power source in operation and theturning off of the power source is entirely automatic thereafter.

We have provided means adaptable to a conventional can opener which willachieve these objects. Therefore, the can engaging and cutting apparatusitself is not, per

r 3 se, new. We have substantially employed the mechanism disclosed inour Patent No. 2,694,855, entitled Can Opener, issued November 23, 1954.Certain structure of our inventive apparatus is identical orsubstantially so with comparablefeatures of that patent, and thus willnot be described in unnecessarily complete detail.

Referring first to Fig. 7, next to front plate 15 is positioned primaryplate 35. Secondary outer plate 36 abuts in face to face slidin'gcontactprimary plate 35. Stud 38a engages one side of the two plates throughopenings therein while stud 38 engages an opening in primary plate 35and a slot 39 in the secondary plate 36. The slot 39 permits limited upanddown movement of the rear end of plate 36 about the forward stud orrivet 38a as a hinge. Plate 36 is always urged downwardly, however, by acoiled compression spring (not shown) confined between the plates withinconfronting semicylindrical pockets formed by struck out portions of theplates (40 on plate 36), whereby plate 36 normally occupies the positionillustrated in Figs. 1, 3, and 4. This pivotal adjustability is to allowfor can seams passing between the feed and cutter wheels, is describedin the above patent, and will not be further set forth here.

' Plate 36 contains a large aperture 41 in which disk 42 is located. Asshown in Figs. 1 and 3, the aperture 41 is shaped to provide stopshoulders 41b and 41a cooperating with a radial lug 42a on a disk inorder to limit rotation of the latter in two directions. Disk 42 canthus turn approximately 180 in either direction in aperture 41. Plate 35has a circular registering aperture therein to receive a. circular plug(not shown) on the rear of the disk 42 for rotation therein. Thethickness of, the plug is equal to or only slightly greater than thethickness of plate 35. The lever 43, which is positioned between thefront plate 15 and the plates 35 and 36, has a smaller opening thereinthrough which a sleeve bearing 45 (Fig. 2), eccentrically mounted on theplug, extends, as well as through an opening inthe front plate 15. Lever44 is fixed to sleeve bearing. 45 which, in turn, is fixed to thecircular plug fastened to the rear side of disc 42. As the circular plugis centered on circular disc 42 (as in the above patent) while thesleeve bearing 45 is asymmetrically. mountedon the plug and shaft 26extends through the bearing, plug and disc, movement of lever 44 fromthe position of Fig. 3 to that of Fig. 4 operates to cam plates 35 and36 (and cutter 49) from the upper cam releasing position of Fig. 3 tothe can engaging position of Fig. 4 and ;then the, can cutting positionof Fig. 5. The relationship of" the disk, plug. and, bearing sleeve 45to plates 36, 35 and 15 is the same as the construction shown in theabove patent.

Can opener drive shaft 26 extends through the sleeve bearing 45, theplug and the disk 42, as may be seen in Figs. 1 and 3, and has feedwheel 46 threadedly mounted thereon. Since'the shaft 26 extends throughthe bearing sleeve 45 and the disk 42, as well as the unseen plug,rotation of the shaft 26 does not rotate the disk, plug or bearingsleeve. However, the lever 43 is seized to the bearing sleeve 45 androtation of the lever 43 around the shaft 26 will elevate (Fig. 3) orlower (Figs. 4, and 1) the two plates 35 and 36 relative the shaft 26.

Spring 57 on sleeve 45 (Fig. 2) abuts disk 58 which is fixed to thebearing sleeve 45 and serves to exert force on the plates 35 and 36' andthe lever 43, to urge the feed wheel 46 toward the exposed face of disk42, thusresiliently maintaining 35, 36 and 42 against the outer face offront plate a washer or shim (not shown) being interposed between thetwo, however, to reduce frictional resistance to turning ofthe feedwheel.

Above aperture 41, plate 36 has an outwardly dished boss portion 47carrying a downwardly inclined spindle 48 which has in turn a cutterwheel 49 rotatably journaled thereon. Forwardly and rearwardly of thezone of action of cutterwheel 49 are apair of fixed shoulder members 50and 51 adapted to engage the upperrim of a can to stabilize it duringthe cutting operation, as will be described presently. It can now beseen, as in Patent No. 2,694,855, that plate together with its secondaryauxiliary plate 36 forms a swivel carrier for the cutter wheel, byvirtue of which the cutter wheel can be shifted through an arc about theaxis of the shaft 26 as a center, and can be positioned in either limitposition; even when the carrier is thus positioned, however, the cutterwheel can move slightly in a direction generally radial to said axis byvirtue of the manner in which the auxiliary secondary plate 36 is hingedat 38a to the main plate 35.

A locking stud 52 (Fig. 7) limits the counterclockwise (in Fig. 1)travel of lever 43, even before the abutment of the tab 42a with theshoulder 41a between the disk 42 and the plate 36. Therefore, the flange44 cannot engage the top of the plate 36 to exert force thereupon sinceits underside abuts the stud 52 before this encounter.

Aside from the stud 52 limiting the action of the lever 43, previouslydescribed, the construction and operation of the can opener assemblypositioned outward from and including the front plate 15 aresubstantially the same as that shown in Patent No. 2,694,855. Asdescribed, the bearing sleeve (not shown) is offset from the center ofthe disk 42 so that the axis of the shaft 26 is eccentrically positionedrelative to the axis of the disk. Thus, when the lever 43 is in theposition of Fig. l, the feed wheel occupies a position wherein its uppermargin overlaps the lower margin of the cutter wheel 49. On the otherhand, by turning the lever 43 to the position of Fig. 3, the feed wheelis in a position spaced away from the cutter wheel. It should be notedthat it is the plates 35 and 36 which move relative the front plate 15,not plate 15 relative them. Thus, the feed wheel 46 remains in' the samevertical position on the front plate 15 while the plates 35 and 36 andthe cutter wheel on plate 36 move upwardly or downwardly relative thefeed wheel.

The apparatus will now be described which actuates the power source andkeeps it operating until the can is out, then shutting it off. Referringto Fig. 7, and also Fig. 6, it will be seen that an opening 53 is formedin and extends through front plate 15 behind the primary plate 35. Ashelf or arm 54 is rigidly fixed to the back of plate 35 and extendsthrough the opening 53. A coil spring 55 abuts the underside of arm 54and is received in an open-ended receiver 56 whereby to constantly urgethe arm 54 upwardly. It should be noted that nothing is preventing theplates 35 and 36 from rotating in a counterclockwise direction (inFig. 1) when the cutter wheel is positioned relative the feed wheel asin the manner of Fig. 1. The only thing which would prevent rotation atall is the tab 42a on the disk 42, while even it is not in a position toprevent counterclockwise rotation. Therefore, the spring 55 yieldinglymaintains the two plates against such rotation. The displaced positionof the arm 54 can be seen in Fig. 1 relative the mounting axis of shaft26. Referring to Fig. 6, it is seen that the arm 54 overlies the end ofthe spring 55 on the switch 29 whereby when the arm 54 is forceddownwardly it will turn on the power source.

The process of engaging a can is shown in Fig. 3. The lever 43 isrotated in a clockwise direction until the rim 44 abuts the underside ofplate 36 and tab 42a abuts shelf 41b, the latter limiting its clockwisemovement. A can rim may be inserted under the edge of the cutter wheeland the lever 43 moved in counterclockwise direction to lower the cutterwheel upon the rim to puncture the can. As the lever 43 moves around andthe cutting edge engages the top of the can to 'be punctured, arotational force on the plate 36 is exerted around the shaft 26. Aslever 43 is moved from the position of Fig. 3 to that of Fig. 4, therotation of the disk 42 cams down the cutter wheel 49 on the top surfaceof the can, driving the underside of the can rim against the wheel 46.Continued rotation of lever 43 exerts force against the top of the canby the cutter wheel. This force is transmitted backin equal reaction tothe cutter wheel to the plate 36. This force tends to move the plate 36from the dotted line showing of Fig. to the full line showing thereof.Such motion forces the arm 54 down against the action of the spring 55and touches off the switch 29 which starts the motor into action. Thisinitiation of the cutting action begins only when the can is brokenthrough, as it takes the amount of compression required to puncture thecan to actually move the plates 35 and 36 around the shaft 26 againstthe spring 55. With the can punctured and the motor started, the feedwheel is driven in the direction of the arrows shown in Fig. 5. It thuswill be seen that the force due to the impingement of the metal portionof the can top against the cutter wheel edge, under the impetus of thefeed wheel gripping the underside of the can rim, is applied along aline displaced from the center of the fiis of shaft 26. This force istransmitted to the plate 36 through the shaft 48 mounting the cutterwheel. Such force tends to rotate the plate 36 around the shaft 26 in acounterclockwise direction in Fig. 5. The strength of the spring 55 mustbe so regulated as to be slightly less than the force required todisplace the plate 36 into the full line position of Fig. 5 and maintainthe arm 54 in depressed position connecting the contacts 31 and 32, thuskeeping the motor in operation. The motor continues running until thecan has been completely cut. Once the can top has been completely cut,there is no further force exerted upon the cutter wheel by the can topand the spring 55 returns plate 36 to the dotted line position of Fig.5. The motor is thus turned off when the can top is cut. Any tendencyfor the can to tilt due to uneven application of force to its top in thecutting thereof is obviated by the bracing arms 51 and 50 which abut theupper can rim during the cutting process.

When the switch 13 is actuated, both of the drive shafts turn; thus theabrasive wheel 20 and the feed wheel 46 both turn simultaneously.However, if there is no can interposed between the feed wheel and thecutter wheel and they are not moved to the position of Fig. 1, there canbe no maintenance of the switch closed while a can is being out and theonly control over the motor will be the switch 13.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the invention is one welladapted to attain all of the ends and objects hereinabove set forth,together with other advantages which are obvious and which are inherentto the structure.

It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are ofutility and may be employed without reference to other features andsubcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of theclaims.

As many possible embodiments may be made of the invention withoutdeparting from the scope thereof, it is to be understood that allmaterial hereinabove set forth or shown in the drawings is to beinterpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. A power operated can opener comprising a power source, a drive shaftdriven by said power source, a plate rotatably journaled on said driveshaft, means limiting the rotation of said plate in both directionsaround said shaft to a restricted are between a first and a secondextremity, resilient means tending to maintain the plate at the firstextremity of said arc, actuating means for said 7 power source, meanscooperating with said plate to contact said actuating means on rotationof the plate to the second extremity of its are, a cutter wheel carriedby said plate and at least substantially fixed relative thereto 6whereby at least some of any forces applied to the cutter wheel areapplied to said plate, a feed wheel fixedly mounted on said drive shaftto rotate therewith relative said cutter wheel, one of said wheelsmovable toward and away from the other wheel to permit engagement anddisengagement of a can rim therebetween, the feed wheel and drive shaftdriven in rotation by said power source in such direction that forcefrom the feed wheel applied to the cutter wheel through a can being cuttends to rotate the plate around the drive shaft from the first to thesecond extremity, and means for initially rotating said plate from thefirst extremity to the second extremity whereby to actuate said powersource when a can is positioned between the cutter wheel and the feedwheel.

2. A power-operated can opener as in claim 1 wherein the resilient meanstending to maintain the plate at the first extremity of its arc exertsslightly less force than the force which is applied to the cutter wheelby the action of the feed wheel on a can in the process of cutting saidcan.

3. A power-operated can opener comprising a power source, a drive shaftdriven by said power source, a primary plate rotatably journaled on saiddrive shaft, a frame plate mounting said drive shaft, means limiting therotation of the primary plate in both directions around said shaft to arestricted are between a first and a second extremity, resilient meanstending to maintain the primary plate at the first extremity of saidare, actuating means for said power source, means cooperating with saidprimary plate to contact said actuating means on rotation thereof to thesecond extremity, a cutter wheel carried by said primary plate and atleast substantially fixedly mounted relative thereto whereby at leastsome of any forces applied to the cutter wheel are applied to theprimary plate, a feed wheel mounted on said drive shaft to rotatetherewith relative said cutter wheel, one of said wheels movable towardand away from the other wheel to permit engagement and disengagement ofa can rim therebetween, the feed wheel and drive shaft rotating in suchdirection that force from the feed wheel applied to the cutter wheelthrough a can being cut tends to rotate the plate around the drive shaftfrom a first to a second extremity and means for initially rotating saidprimary plate from the first extremity to the second extremity wherebyto actuate said power source when a can is positioned between the cutterand the feed wheel.

4. A power-operated can opener as in claim 3 wherein the means forlimiting the rotation of the primary plate comprises a slot in the frameplate and an arm fixed to the primary plate and extending into saidslot.

5. A power-operated can opener as in claim 3 wherein the resilient meanstending to maintain the primary plate at the first extremity is mountedon the frame plate.

6. A power-operated can opener as in claim 5 wherein the resilient meanscooperates with the arm on the primary plate extending through the slotin the frame plate. 7. A power-operated can opener as in claim 3 whereinthe actuating means for the power source is mounted on the frame and themeans for limiting rotation of the primary plate comprises a slot insaid frame plate and an arm fixed to the primary plate and extendingtherethrough, the arm operable to contact the switch when it approachesthe second extremity.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,745,174 Herrick May 15, 1956

